MI Children Escape Sinking Vehicle Through Trunk After Dad Drives In Lake Macatawa Sunday

OTTAWA COUNTY, MI. (THECOUNT) — Jon Paul Dowler, of Otsego, Michigan, has been identified as the deceased father pulled from a submerged vehicle in Ottawa County Sunday.

Two girl, age 8 and 10, were also in the vehicle and miraculously escaped by pulling the vehicle’s trunk latch after the vehicle became submerged in Lake Macatawa in Park Township on Sunday. Dowler, 52, did not survive.

It is unknown why the vehicle entered the lake in the area of Jenison Avenue and Lakeway Drive in Holland Sunday morning.

The Ottawa County Sheriff’s Office says Dowler was driving the vehicle with his two young daughters, when for unknown reasons, the vehicle entered the lake.

Dowler was pulled out of the water and pronounced dead around 2 p.m. Sunday.

A cause of death was not provided.

The children were located soaking wet on the porch area of a nearby home.

The children were transported to an area hospital and treated for cold exposure before being released to family members Sunday afternoon.

It is unclear how the children were able to access the trunk area of the vehicle before making their escape.

The incident remains under investigation.

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Geo quick facts: Ottawa County is a county located in the U.S. state of Michigan. As of the United States 2010 Census, the population was 263,801. The county seat is Grand Haven. The county is named for the Ottawa Nation. It was set off in 1831 and organized in 1837 – Wikipedia.